Te City of Matera is a Unesco World Heritage Site which attendees will tour on the morning of September 30. Matera has gained international fame for its ancient town, the "Sassi di Matera" (meaning "stones of Matera"). Te Sassi originated in a prehistoric troglodyte settlement, and these dwellings are thought to be among the first ever human settlements in what is now Italy. Te Sassi are habitations dug into the calcareous rock itself, which is characteristic of Basilicata and Apulia. Many of them are really little more than caverns, and in some parts of the Sassi, a street lies on top of another group of dwellings. Te ancient town grew up on one slope of the rocky ravine created by a river that is now a small stream, and this ravine is known locally as "la Gravina." In the 1950s, the government of Italy used force to relocate most of the population of the Sassi to areas of the developing modern city.

Te tour also will travel to Bari S. Nicola Stadium in Bari, Italy. Te multi-use all-seater stadium was designed by architect Renzo Piano for the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy. Te stadium resembles a 'flower.’ To create this particular design, the stadium consists of 26 'petals' and upper tiers of the higher ring which are separated by 8-meter empty spaces. (Each space has a span equivalent to 26.25 feet.) It holds 58,248 people. Te pitch is Tifway 419 bermudagrass.

For more information and registrations, please visit the link to the 2016 ETP Farm Tour: http://turfgrassproducers.eu/2016farmtour/

Te host hotel is the Kalidria Hotel Spa in Castellaneta Marina, Italy. For more information on the hotel, please visit their website: www.novayardinia.it/kalidria

Plantec Soc. Agr. Srl is the largest sod farm in southern Italy at 60 hectares (148 acres). Production of turfgrass sod was started there in 2001 by the brothers Ada and Pierluigi Strada and marketed under the name Protopia. Tis company truck is parked near the gardens outside Plantec’s farm house where the September 29 evening aperitif and barbeque will be hosted.

TPI Turf News September/October 2016

To become an ETP member, please visit: http://turfgrassproducers.eu

*ETP Sponsors only

Jim Novak is public relations manager for Turfgrass Producers International. All photos courtesy of European Turfgrass Producers

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